Thereâs a solution: traffic circles, or roundabouts. Traffic circles terrified me when I first confronted them in Europe. A movie, âNational Lampoonâs European Vacation,â captured my experience when it portrayed Chevy Chase driving in London, unable to exit a rotary all day. Besides being hard to navigate, I also assumed roundabouts cause problems, but a Freakanomics podcast woke me to their advantages. Roundabouts are a reason Britainâs rate of traffic deaths is less than half the U.S.âs. âWeâve converted almost all of our traffic lights to roundabouts because we save lives,â says the mayor of Carmel, Indiana, Jim Brainard. His little town now has 133 roundabouts.